As election season heats up in Michigan, candidates vie to succeed outgoing, term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Republican U.S. Rep. John James and several third-party candidates will battle it out on the ballot this November. Here's what to know about the six people running in the gubernatorial race.
Jocelyn Benson (D)
Jocelyn Benson is the current secretary of state for Michigan. She is running as a Democrat in the Michigan gubernatorial race.
Prior to being elected Secretary of State and then running for governor, Benson made history as the youngest woman to lead an accredited law school when she was appointed dean of Wayne State University Law School at the age of 35. During her time as secretary of state, she created self-service stations for Michigan’s motor vehicle department to decrease wait times and increase accessibility.
Benson’s campaign lists her priorities as eight main issues: affordability, housing, healthcare, childcare, energy costs, education, environment and data centers.
Benson's campaign aims to increase housing availability and affordability, lower costs of medical care by increasing billing transparency, and make childcare more affordable by bringing Rx Kids statewide. She plans to rebuild Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services to make healthcare more affordable and increase options for low- or no-cost preventative healthcare.
Benson promises to work toward reducing the cost of energy through reforms. She wants to create a better and more accomplished school system by recruiting and retaining educators and by implementing initiatives such as equitable funding for schools, literacy goals, a statewide graduation standard and others. Benson says she will regulate data centers in that they must create well-paying job opportunities and not increase energy costs. She also said she would encourage transparency and disclosure to communities where data centers are being built.
Donna Brandenburg (U.S. Taxpayers)
Donna Brandenburg is running in the Michigan gubernatorial race as a member of the U.S. Taxpayers Party. She is the chair of the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan, according to Ballotpedia.org.
Brandenburg is an entrepreneur and constitutional conservative, according to the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan. She has dedicated her time to building businesses across industries like real estate, farming, technology and energy to create high-paying jobs.
Her campaign focuses on putting families first by eliminating property and state income taxes, reducing waste by implementing a Department of Government Efficiency, election integrity and returning the government to what she describes as its constitutional role of serving the people, not controlling them.
Douglas Campbell (Green)
Douglas Campbell is running in the Michigan gubernatorial race as a member of the Green Party.
Anthony Hudson (Libertarian)
Anthony Hudson was born in and lived in Texas before moving to Michigan in 2012. He is running in the Michigan gubernatorial race as a Libertarian. Hudson refers to himself as a hardworking Michigan conservative and has 20 years of experience as a truck driver.
Hudson's campaign has 22 key issues: eliminate state income tax, eliminate property tax, part-time legislature with part-time pay, lower auto insurance, eliminate solar and wind farms, return local control, eliminate annual auto registration, eliminate renewable energy mandates, bring back natural gas, medical transparency and informed consent, protect the Second Amendment, economic development, invest in infrastructure, eliminate the Michigan Department of Transportation, no data centers or flock cameras, immigration, parents' rights and 14th Amendment, veterans and homeless, secure schools, affordable healthcare, mental health programs and eliminate child trafficking.
The Hudson campaign hopes to provide financial relief for Michigan families by eliminating state income and property taxes, lowering auto insurance, eliminating yearly auto registration, reducing taxes on gas, restoring the use of natural gas and prioritizing small business growth.
Hudson hopes to help lawmakers connect with their communities and save taxpayer money by reducing the work of those holding legislative roles. His campaign advocates for natural resource protection through eliminating solar and wind farms. Hudson hopes to eliminate renewable energy mandates, which he said would allow individuals to decide what energy solutions work best for their personal needs. He promises to fix Michigan's roads and protect Second Amendment rights. Hudson's campaign aims to remove sanctuary cities, deport undocumented immigrants and further enforce Immigration Customs and Enforcement laws.
John James (R)
John James currently represents Michigan’s 10th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He has held that position since 2023. He is running as a Republican in the Michigan gubernatorial race. James served for eight years in the U.S. Army as a ranger-qualified aviation officer. Upon returning home and prior to his work in politics, he led his family business, James Group International, a supply chain and logistics company.
James’ campaign highlights six main issues: freedom from corruption agenda, the clear initiative, Parents’ Bill of Rights for Michigan, education freedom agenda, make work great again and the Michigan family health and freedom plan.
James' campaign promises to increase government transparency by applying the state Freedom of Information Act to the governor's office and the Michigan legislature, which are currently exempt from the law. He also plans to increase spending transparency, auditing the previous ten years of government spending and voter rolls, funding the auditor general's office, and more.
John James will establish a Parents' Bill of Rights outlining the rights parents and their children have in areas like consent, education and others. The Parents' Bill of Rights can be found on James' website. He aims to increase Michigan's education level, improve school systems and opt Michigan into the Federal K-12 Education Freedom Tax Credit, a program that allows individuals to receive federal tax credits for up to $1,700 to authorized scholarship-granting organizations; donations are then distributed to qualifying students to be used for public or private education costs.
James' campaign promises to eliminate income tax, lower costs of healthcare, increase transparency and informed consent within the healthcare system and uphold the Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again initiative.
Evan Space (Independent)
Evan Space is running as an Independent write-in candidate in the Michigan gubernatorial race, according to Ballotpedia.org.
Space is a self-employed entrepreneur, having run his own window washing company for 17 years. He has previously served in the Michigan Army National Guard as a combat engineer. After four years, Space was promoted to the rank of sergeant in the Sapper Combat Engineers in the Upper Peninsula and continued to serve for an additional four years.
Space's campaign has seven specific priorities: the Flint water crisis, Detroit rebuilding from bankruptcy, budget cuts to national budget for Michigan's environmental protection, re-establishing permanent jobs and doing away with high unemployment rates, protecting Michigan's education system, improving correctional facilities and constriction of the opioid epidemic.
Space's campaign aims to correct the Flint water crisis. He hopes to propose innovative ideas to restructure Detroit's use of renewable energy and power resource development to reduce the cost of energy and create new jobs.
The Space campaign promises to keep incentives that prevent Michigan employers from outsourcing employees from other states or countries. Space wants to prevent after-school activities from losing funding in Michigan's K-12 schools. He wants to reduce opioid addiction by improving rehabilitation facilities and increasing legal penalties for opioid use.
